On the men’s side, the candidate who was the number one favorite of the betting agencies did not win the Golden Ball this time, because the midfield size of Manchester City and the Spanish national team Rodri acclaimed Ballon d’Or recipient before Real Madrid’s power forward Vinicius Junior24.
Real Madrid, who won the Champions League and La Liga, boycotted the selection and canceled the trip of all the people of the club organization to Paris because Vinicius Junior or even the club’s defender comet Dani Carvajal didn’t get the trophy that the Spanish club thought belonged to their player after the cannon season.
The Golden Ball is considered to be the most significant individual award given to football players.
The Real Madrid camp miraculously forgets that the criteria is the selection of the best player in the world on a personal level, and the best player of the Champions League winner is not an automatic guarantee for the Ballon d’Or, although this may have been the case once.
The Spanish giant’s talk of discriminating against the club is laughable when you know that a Real Madrid player has won every Ballon d’Or for men between 2009 and 2023, which Lionel Messi has not taken to his name.
Vinicius Jr. does not complete the three-pointer
Why then played a brilliant season in Real Madrid Vinicius Junior didn’t win the Ballon d’Or despite the odds?
Comparing the brass striker to City’s Rodri, the differences come in two things. Firstly, Rodri played a massive role when Spain won the European Championship. At the same time, Vinicius Jr. was mostly miserable in the national team shirt and was asked to sit at the end of the bench on a few occasions in the Brazilian continental championship tournament.
Another thing becomes clear straight away From the Ballon d’Or criteria list. In that, Vinicius Junior doesn’t even necessarily meet section three, which values fair play and exemplary behavior on the green.
The latest example can be found just a couple of days ago in El Clásico, when Vinicius Junior slapped Barcelona’s 19-year-old unreasonably hard and unnecessarily after the game had already been decided. Peter. Rodri, on the other hand, fulfills the fair play section in an exemplary manner, even though he plays in the role of a lower midfielder.
I dare to suspect that the decisive, hair-thin difference between Vinicius Junior and Rodri in the paperwork of some selectors came from the fact that the journalist who cast his vote judged Vinicius to fall into too much unsportsmanlike behavior.
A choice worthy of the Rodri trophy
Defensive midfielder Rodri, 28, has played a huge role in both Manchester City’s Premier League win and Spain’s European Championship. Rodri was awarded as the best player of the EC football tournament.
Rodri has also been awarded, among other things, as the best player of the Champions League in the 2022–2023 season, after the winning goal as the best player of the Champions League final, as the best player of the Nations League finals and as the best player of the Club World Cup tournament.
Rodri, who hails from Madrid but rose to fame at Villarreal and in his final La Liga season at Atlético Madrid, was also an important piece when Spain won the 2023 Nations League title.
The best midfielder in the world
Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola as well as some football analysts have highlighted that Rodri is currently the best midfielder in the world because he can do everything.
The Spanish tactician controls the tempo, is able to give different passes with high percentages and shows character in front of his team when necessary.
Rodri is a perfect midfielder. An attacking team’s midfield must know how to defend a large space, which Rodri is skilled at. Of the City team, he had the most tackles and the fourth most interceptions per match last season.
In addition to all this, Rodri also helps the team significantly when playing in the attacking direction. In the Premier League and the Champions League last season, he scored nine complete hits and provided 12 assists leading to goals.
One indication of Rodri’s high-quality and steady playing can also be found in the statistics. He has not experienced a single defeat in the last 52 games he has played in the Premier League. The series in question started in February 2023.
Ode to the defensive players at the same time
Rodri’s selection as “the best in the world” is an ode, a praise for the defensive midfielder’s amazing skill and influence in a successful football team.
The selection of the player with the best defense is still exceptional in the Golden Ball voting. Italian couple Fabio Cannavaro was his country’s superstar at the World Cup 2006, for which he was awarded the Ballon d’Or.
The previous defenders, who were rated as “the best in the world”, had shone for Germany in the European Championships Matthias Sammer in 1996 and a football legend of the same country Franz “The Kaiser” Beckenbauer in 1976.
The Ballon d’Or selection is based on the opinion of a hundred football journalists from different countries, and is not an absolute truth.
In football and in team sports in general, when comparing players between different venues, declaring the truth is extremely challenging. The forwards of a successful team are basically the center of attention with their goals and assists.